Population declines are hurting schools

Michiganís population increased a small amount from 2011 to 2012. Thatís good.

But it didnít do much for public school enrollment in the tri-county area. That declined by about 17 percent over the past five years. Thatís not good.

The population, according to newly released U.S. Census data, increased by 6,559 people to about 9.88 million. It follows several years of decline from a peak above 10 million.

As journalists, weíre taught not to take too many significant digits seriously: An increase of 6,000 or 7,000 might be more accurate than an exact number. But after all the hardship the state has endured in recent years, any such increase is better than the opposite.

But the picture is different in the schools.

Besides the 17 percent decline in Macomb, Oakland and Wayne counties, according to a recent published report, declines over the same period were 46 percent in Detroit and 69 percent in Highland Park.

In the three counties, 20 public school districts recorded declines of 10 or more percent, including Mount Clemens, East Detroit, Pontiac and Hazel Park. Those gaining population included several districts bordering Detroit, Oak Park and Harper Woods among them, as well as Fraser, Lake Shore, Lamphere, Berkley, Oxford and Lakeview. Charter schools ate up some of the declines in traditional K-12 districts with an average increase of 9 percent.

Much of the decline is attributed to smaller families and an absence of people moving from other countries or other states.

Enrollment decline translates into revenue decline, and many of the districts are operating at a deficit.

There are no easy answers. A better economy and whatever it takes to prod it will help if it attracts more workers, more population and more kids. But that wonít happen soon.

Cost-cutting is a likely step, whether the result of negotiated concessions ó from teachers and other groups who have already given them ó or forced cuts via a state takeover.

That suggests that it may be time to revisit how we have financed our schools since voter approval of Proposal A in 1994 placed most of the burden on a state property tax and part of a sales tax increase.

On the other hand, maybe this is how Michigan in earnest begins a shift from 500-plus traditional K-12 school districts to thousands of charter schools: by starving the beasts.